How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
by WelcometoStruggleStreet
Summary: AU. Lucy is watching rom coms on Christmas when the zombie apocalypse strikes. Her quick thinking and average fighting ability gets her through the worst until she joins the ultimate survival team: Fairy Tail.
1. Chapter 1

**How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse **

**Lucy **

"How did you survive?"

Lucy thinks back to the very beginning to retell her tale.

It's Christmas day, and a lonely one at that. She's home alone with her puppy Plue, enjoying eating chocolate in front of the TV playing her favourite Christmas rom com. She's slightly depressed of the romance life she doesn't have on Christmas. She has no family either. Her father having died half a year ago, and her mother passing long ago when she was little.

The news cuts into her favourite show. It reports a cannibalistic virus spreading fast. They gave urgent instructions to lock all doors and windows.

She's shocked at first, just sits there with chocolate in hand- frozen. She thinks she must have misheard? Maybe she's dreaming? But the sound of chaos outside isn't short of alarming.

_No way. _

She rummages for her keys amongst the mess on her coffee table, and runs to the front door, thrusting the key into the lock. Through the screen door she sees people running everywhere, a Santa falls off one of the rooftop of the Parkinsons' house across the street. Lucy clasps a hand over her mouth as she screams.

Next she scrambles to the back door, only to be greeted with the most horrible sight. A man, dressed in a flannel and torn jeans, head cocked like dead weight and blood and who knows what on his lips. Lucy backs away from the door, he's too close. She backs up into the kitchen. Frantically she searches the cupboards for something, anything! Her fingers clasp around the handle of a small but sturdy fry pan, and holds it defensively in front of herself. Then backed up to the cabinets, trying to put as much space between her and the zombie-resembling-man as possible, her elbow bumps the handles of the knives. She chooses the longest one and holds it alongside her frying pan.

_It's now, or never. _

She steps forward with her left foot and follows with a strong backhand. Her tennis matches with Patrick are paying off. And following her swing, her right arm plunges the knife a little too high, stabbing the zombie in the neck. He doesn't stop, his lust-filled eyes lay on her hand just centimetres from his blood-drooling mouth. He grabs her arm. She tugs away as hard as she withdraws her hand, she grabs another knife and plunges again for his heart. She doesn't miss this time. He slumps to the ground heavy. Lucy is panting and breathing heavily. It takes her a moment to come to her senses. She is alert again when she hears glass breaking somewhere close by.

By now Lucy knows 1 thing for sure. She needs to get out. It's not safe in her little farming neighborhood. She pokes her head out the back door, looking quickly left and right. It's clear. She makes her mad dash to the stables, still clutching the fry pan. When she gets inside, it's spooky. The moonlight shines through the gaps of the timber walls. Her grip on the fry pan is tight. There are shuffles in the hay.

_Just the horses. _

She unlocks the stable and leads out Midnight. He's a beautiful solid Clydesdale. Shining black blue coat, red lights in his eyes, and the occasional braid in his mane where the white streaks are. Lucy saddles him up, fumbling anxiously with the girth and the bridle buckles. There are gunshots outside. The Jones' are fond of hunting. She grabs her whip and the shot gun tucked away hidden under the horse feed. Her dad said it was for "Just in case" but she was too scared to keep it in the house, something like that.

She feels nervous loading the ammunition into the gun, and even more nervous when she stands at the stable doors, ready to venture out and find safer grounds. If such a place exists. But she's seen too many movies like this. She knows she has to leave.

**And that concludes chapter 1. This story will be a lot of short chapters. But very to the point and cut to the chase or so I'm hoping. And with any luck, updated regularly. I have drawn a lot of inspiration from Zombieland, World War Z, The Walking Dead, Fairy Tail (obviously), and my best friend Kiara's writings! **

**Next chapter: Natsu**

**Leave a review ;) **

**Adios Amigos **


	2. Chapter 2

**How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse **

**(**Forgive me, I know close to nothing about guns, and what I do is from Wikipedia**) **

**Natsu **

Natsu proudly sits, legs wide open for a strong base of support, gun in hand. He's grinning. Far too much. He squints through the target lens and pulls the trigger firing repetitively. A giggle escapes his lips as the victims fall. He does a victory dance.

"Bomp

Bomp

Bomp Bomp (pelvic thrust)

Another One Bites tha Dust!

Diggadiggado- *background instruments* (smacking invisible ass)

Bomp

Bomp

Bomp Bomp (pelvic thrust)

Another One Bites the Dustaaa~~ (Egyptian head jerking)

And Another One Gone

And Another One Gone (shuffling poorly, almost falling off the roof)

And Another Bites Tha ….. (about to pelvic thrust)

Whaa?"

His next target is moving very quickly. In the darkness he just recognizes it to be a girl on a horse.

Zombie on a horse?

No.

A girl on a horse.

A blonde girl on a horse.

"Ooooooooii!" he calls out.

The girl looks around frantically, but powers on ahead.

"Ooooooooooooooooii!" he yells even louder, flapping an arm and a gun in the air to grab her attention.

A zombie approaches her from in front and to her right. He doesn't hesitate to shout them down.

He signals the blonde girl again.

With zombies blocking her path she has no choice but to steer her stallion towards him.

Natsu shoots them all down, not missing a shot.

_Who the hell is this guy? _

There is a final bang and everything falls silent. The girl is taking refuge under the front porch with her horse, and the boy on the roof has stopped shooting. There are no sounds of chaos on the dirt road known as their street, and the constant drone of brain-dead-undead has faded.

Lucy's big brown eyes scan the landscape in front of her- the front yard of the Jones' house.

A face drops down in front of her, "AAHHHH!" she screams jumping back.

The body belonging to the face drops down from the roof onto the ground before the porch. Lucy fumbles holding the shot gun up right and points it at the person-possibly-zombie shakily as he stands.

"Hi." Natsu says with a wave.

Lucy slowly lowers her weapon.

"You're…

You're not one of them?" she says, voice quivering like her entire system.

"Do I look like a drooling freak to you?" he replies.

Lucy almost cracks a smile.

"Who are you?" she asks.

"Natsu Dragneel. Who are you?" he asks in turn.

"Lucy Heartfilia." she replies. "What happened to the Jones'?"

"I locked them in the cellar." says Natsu flatly.

"You locked them in the cellar?!" Lucy asks wide-eyed.

"It didn't seem right to shoot my foster family." he continues off-handedly.

"Foster fam"-

"Sorry, did you know them? I only started living here last week." Natsu finishes.

"A bit." Lucy trails off, "Is the cellar secure?" she asks.

"Yeah!" he nods.

"We should go down there." says Lucy.

"Are you crazy?!" Natsu demands,

"No. If you care about them, we should probably put them out of their misery. It's probably crueler to let them be this way." says Lucy.

~!~

Minutes later, they arrive at the bottom of a staircase AKA the entrance to the cellar.

"Do you think being a zombie is painful?" asks Natsu.

"I don't know." says Lucy, "Maybe not, I stabbed one in the neck and he didn't seem fazed at all."

"Hmmm… Well, would you like to do the honors or will I?" Natsu readjusts his grip on his gun, his gaze shifting from the weapon to the door.

Their ears perk up when they hear rustling on the other side of the door. The rustles are following by thumps.

"Are they ramming the door?" Lucy's eyes widen.

"No way!" Natsu exclaims… "They're brain-dead you know." he tells her.

*THUMP*

The hinges budge.

They both stare intently at the door anticipating the next thump anxiously.

An eerie silence settles in. It's slightly broken by a drowned out moan.

Do the Jones' stand behind that door or monsters?

…..

…

..

.

Lucy is abruptly whacked in the stomach, pushing her into the wall behind Natsu. The door collapses and Natsu fires.

"RUN!" he screams in her ear. "RUN LUCY!"

**End of chapter 2! I have a feeling they are a little OOC, but I think its okay since its AU? Anyway hope everyone is still enjoying the story! **

**Please leave me a review and tell me what you think xx **

**Adios Amigos ~ **

**And Welcome To Struggle Street. **


	3. Chapter 3

**How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse**

**Team NaLu **

They run into the main living space, the Jones' hot on their tails.

"Did you miss or something?" Lucy breathes,

"No way!" Natsu exclaims angrily.

"Did you get them in the heart?" she asks,

"Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know!" he blurts out frantically.

"Try that then!" Lucy yells coming to a halt.

Natsu runs into her backside with an "Oof!"

"What did you stop for?" he growls.

"We're surrounded in case you didn't notice!" she barks.

Natsu gapes.

"Oh shit."

The two are standing back to back. Both armed with only single gun each.

"A-A-Ariel?" Natsu stutters.

Ariel, the youngest of the Jones', stands before Natsu. Head snapped backward, shoulder bleeding, skin pale and slightly blue. Her black hair is ragged- sticking to the saliva drooling from her lips. She licks her tongue of her yellow stained teeth.

"She's not Ariel anymore." Lucy says firmly.

_We cannot afford to hesitate anymore. _

And the two of them start shooting.

"Natsu, follow me!" Lucy tugs his arms and starts sprinting for the front door through the pathway she opened up.

Arms claw at her and Natsu whacks them away with the barrel of his gun. He covers her as she unties Midnight who is luckily unfazed by the virus ordeal. One would think a horse would shy in such a situation and with all the gunshots, or God forbid, get infected itself. Maybe luck is on their side? Lucy climbs on the black stallion, and Natsu jumps on behind her wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. She doesn't waste time in coaxing Midnight to pick up the pace and soon they are riding out into the fields, the moonlight bearing upon them and the grass blowing in the chilling wind.

~!~

"What is this place?" asks Natsu.

"The cubby house my mum used to always ride me out to when I was little." Lucy says in a soft tone,

She runs her hand down the window sill, fingertips just grazing the pane.

"I haven't been back since she passed away." she continues.

Natsu doesn't say anything for a moment, and neither does Lucy.

Then, "I'm sorry," he offers his condolences, "I lost my dad to- when I was 7."

Lucy looks back at him, a flash of hurt, confusion and sentimentalism in her eyes.

"What about your mum?" Lucy asks, "Where is she now?"

"I don't know. I don't even know who she is."

"I'm sorry." says Lucy this time.

"Don't apologize, its fine, really! I've been on my own so long it doesn't make a difference," Natsu smiles toothily.

To Lucy though, it is a very sad line. Being used to being alone is not 'fine' to her.

"We should be safe here." Lucy changes the subject, "There isn't civilization for a while in any direction. We truly are in the middle of nowhere."

"Do you own all this land?" Natsu wonders aloud,

"Yeah, but I can't look after anything on it so it's just barren land. After my father left the place to me I've never really known what to do with it. I sold all the animals. Now there's only Midnight and Plue-

SHIT!

PLUE!"

"Who's Plue?!" Natsu demanded,

"My puppy! I completely lost track of him when I escaped the house!"

"Calm down! He's probably still there." Natsu says level-headedly,

"What? What makes you say that?" Lucy prompts an elaboration.

"The Zombies didn't touch Midnight, Plue's probably fine."

Lucy takes a deep breath. "Yeah…" she murmurs half-heartedly. "He should have enough food and water for little while and…"

"You should get some rest." Natsu cuts her off firmly.

She takes a deep breath to rebut, but exhales and nods instead.

She was lucky enough that there was still a few things left in the house. It hadn't really changed at all. All except for the sickly thick layer of dust, cobwebs and insect nests in small crevices. She shook out a scratchy woolen blanket and curled up with it over her shoulders. It was the same corner where she used to snuggle up with her mum over books and hot drinks. She can hear Natsu's feet shuffling on the roof. He offered to keep watch just in case.

Cold tears rolled down her cheeks. She had murdered a man, was sleeping in a cubby house with another murderer- the image of Ariel haunting her, and all she wanted was to feel her mother's arms around her once again. She wished she could remember the feeling more vividly.

**Well that's a wrap for chapter 3! **

**This is set when Lucy is 16, and Natsu is 17 I just thought I'd add. **

**It will take a while for the 'humour' genre to become prominent, but just bear with the characters for a while- they are getting over the fact that the world is succumbing to a viral disease causing mass zombification. **

**When Fairy Tail comes together, shit will go down to funky town. **

**I am in such a weird mood tonight. **

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed however brief the chapter. **

**As always, please reviews, it makes me update faster and I appreciate the warm fuzzies :3 **

**Thanks for all the support so far and keep it up! xx **

**~Adios and Welcome to Struggle Street **


	4. Chapter 4

They were on a ride to nowhere in particular. Somewhere with less zombie, and more food- was the goal. Lucy wanted to go back for Plue, but both of them knew it was out of the question if they wanted to survive.

They talked little more on the ride. They made few stops to let Midnight rest, and do another check on their surroundings. They were headed for a town called Magnolia. It was more than likely they'd encounter zombies, but there was also food. And that was not something they could past up. They decided to stick to the outskirts, Magnolia would surely be dangerous.

~!~

When they reach Magnolia, the streets are quiet. Far too quiet.

"Maybe they've all centralized?" Lucy suggests, "I wonder if zombies are drawn to something in particular? Like sound, or smell? or…"

She looks at Natsu who sports a painful expression,

Lucy mistakes it for worry but-

Then his stomach growls.

"Come on let's get some food!" Lucy smiles, happy to change the subject.

They approach a cute well-kept house, white picket fence, and the most immaculate of them all. An old ladies' body is sprawled across the front lawn. But she's not a zombie. Just dead? For some reason it's not as confronting as Lucy had expected.

"Heart attack?" Natsu wonders, he then shrugs.

"Poor Lady." Lucy says sympathetically.

Lucy pushes down on the door handle and to her delight it opens with ease. Natsu smiles toothily as his stomach growls and he races inside.

"Natsu be careful!" Lucy warns, following quickly after him.

She's more cautious though, checking all the rooms as she passes them- shot gun in hand.

"LUCY!" Natsu yells.

"WHAT?" Lucy cries in reply, running to the sound of his voice.

"THE OLD LADY HAS M&amp;Ms!" Natsu jumps around the kitchen with joy.

Lucy glares at him.

"What?" he frowns.

…

..

.

"LUCCCYYYYYY KICK! YOU IDIOT NATSU!"

~!~

By midday, the two are taking it easy. Lucy is eating M&amp;Ms on the couch watching a soap opera while Natsu raids the pantry for more food.

They've started a pack. They've stocked up with food, medical supplies, toiletries, blankets, useful little extras like scissors, gardening gloves, hedge trimmers, screw drives and the like.

The best part was the shower. The hot water and soap to wash off the blood and dirt was heaven on this apocalyptic earth.

**Food for thought:**

**If Lucy is watching a soap opera, clearly there are still people operating the television stations… **

**Very Very short chappa folks. Sorry it's taken so long, I don't actually have Wi-Fi, because I don't have a job and live out of home :') So long story short, this only gets updated when I get to the library. **

**Hope you're enjoying Struggle Street xx **


	5. Chapter 5

It's been 4 days since they settled in the deceased old lady's house.

"Natsu- how can we be out of food already!?" Lucy shrieks with her hands on her hips.

"It's not my fault Luce!" Natsu cries,

The girl is practically exhaling steam.

"Please don't hurt me!" he squeaks,

"BIT LATE FOR THAT!"

"OWWW LUCY THAT HURRTTSSS!"

"THAT'S THE POINT YOU MORON!"

~!~

"How is it that every other house on this street is empty?" Lucy grumbles,

Natsu walks ahead of her, his gun resting on his shoulder.

"I beginning to think this is hopeless. If the whole street has been cleaned out, you can bet the rest of the area has to." Lucy continues.

"Maybe we should head towards Magnolia Central then?" Natsu suggests.

Lucy pales, "That's suicide."

"And that's why we'll find food there." Natsu explains grinning.

"That's the worst logic I've ever heard." Lucy says. Natsu's face turns disheartened.

"But I think you're right." she finishes, and his smile reinstates.

"So let's go!" Natsu cheers, punching a fist into the air.

"Ehhh? Right now? No way! Let's go back to the house. I'm tired and want a shower." she reasons. "We'll leave in the morning."

"Awww fine." Natsu slumps.

~!~

Lucy wakes to deep rumbling coming from the street. The sound of a vehicle. She scrambles out of bed and rushes into the living room where the windows face the street. She sees Natsu already standing by with his gun at the ready.

"Natsu, what's going on?" Lucy asks,

"There are people out there." he says.

"What are they doing?" she inquires further.

"….They're searching. All the houses on the street."

"Just as we were earlier." Lucy finishes.

"That explains why _we_ didn't find anything." Natsu points out.

"But we've been here the whole time, we would have heard them." Lucy argues,

"They might have been on foot?" Natsu suggests, "You aren't wrong, I would have heard them if they were here."

"It still doesn't make sense, why did they leave us alone before?"-

"That doesn't matter now." Natsu cuts her off, "Because this time we're not getting left alone. Find your gun Luce. Now!"

"Natsu!"

"Hurry! And stay hidden."

Lucy fetches her gun from her room and conceals herself in the laundry closet. She spots Natsu slipping in the pantry just as torchlight shines through the rooms' curtains.

Nerves overwhelm her, she begins shaking, and her fingers feel clammy and twitchy on the weapon in her hands. Her breaths sound much louder than usual. She begs herself to calm down.

"Pull yourself together!" she breathes.

And then she hears the door creaks open.

They're here.

There are footsteps as beams of light survey the room.

Lucy focuses on her breathing- paranoid that they'll be able to hear her inhale-exhale if she doesn't.

"HAWWWW Guys! This place looks promising!" a feminine voice exclaims.

"Remember to keep an eye out. This is almost suspicious." a manlier voice advises.

"Too good to be true huh…" the female voice agrees.

"I'll sus out the kitchen!" a different voice offers.

Lucy's breath hitches remembering Natsu in the pantry.

She completely zones out of the next exchanges in conversation- absorbed in worry. She hurls back into reality when she hears Natsu shouting.

"Stop right there! Who are you?"

Followed by the sounds of guns being cocked.

Lucy shakily forces herself to step out and holds her own gun at the ready. The smallest of the intruding trio wheels around and points her gun on her. Lucy's taken aback by her appearance for some reason. The girl is petite, she has bright blue hair, and brown eyes staring down the barrel readily.

"Answer me!" Natsu commands, "Who are you?"

"Have either of you been in contact with a zombie in the last 9hrs? Are there any more of you?" the bluenette demands.

Lucy steals a glance at Natsu, he looks edgy, so she decides to take over the talking.

"No to both." she says maintaining a steady voice.

The trio loosen up slightly.

"How do we know we can trust you?" one of the males ask.

There's a long pause.

Then Lucy makes another decision. She slowly lowers her weapon to the ground. Natsu frowns at her at first, but then follows suit.

"It's okay boys." the bluenette announces, lowering her own gun.

"I'm Levy." says the bluenette.

"Jet." says the tall male with a head of wranger hair.

"Droy." nods the largest of the three.

"We're part of a survival team called Fairy Tail. We were just out scouting for supplies. They call us the scavengers- Team Shadow Gear." Levy explains.

**Yay for plot line moving along! Yaaay for Shadow Gear! Yay for Levy with a gun! Yay for Jet and Droy…. **

**Haha, see ya'll next week hopefully ^.^ **

**~Welcome to Struggle Street **


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